However the “2016 State of B2B Digital Marketing” survey from Ascend2 and Marketo shows 39% of respondents cited a lack of internal skills and training as the most significant barrier, and 36% said a lack of effective strategy was a barrier to digital marketing success.

When asked what are their most important goals are, 64% say increasing lead generation is a most important goal of digital marketing.

The most effective B2B digital marketing tactics to support these goals include email, website, and SEO.

The effectiveness of digital marketing to achieve important objectives is increasing to some extent for 90% of B2B organizations, with 27% saying “Effectiveness is increasing significantly”.

Social media and SEO were named as the most difficult B2B digital marketing tactics to execute. Both tactics are time-intensive requiring skilled resources not always available in-house.

Email and websites are not only the most effective tactics used, they are also two of the least difficult tactics to execute – factors worth considering when developing a digital marketing strategy.